23 Excellent Balloon Activities & Ideas for Fun at Home
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Check out these balloon activities and ideas for fantastic fun at home with kids. You'll have a blast with these frugal ways to enjoy special moments with your family and friends.
Get ready for excellent fun with balloons!
Terrific Times for Balloon Fun with Kids
Balloons are such cool tools for having easy fun with kids. These colorful objects are great for lots of fun with all ages.
And you don't have to spend a lot of money! Balloons are affordable, engaging, and perfect for fun activities with kids.
If you're looking for brilliant balloon fun activities, you'll love these ideas and suggestions for:
- Balloon party ideas
- Boredom busters
- Brain breaks for kids
- Rainy day fun
- Homeschool fun activities
- Learning fun
- Fun ideas for when you're stuck at home
So Many Ways to Have Fun with Balloon Activities!
To help you find the type of balloon fun that you need for your special (or every day) event, I've created these categories:
- Active Play & Indoor Games
- Arts & Crafts
- Learning Fun
You can stick to just one activity or mix and match categories. Think about how much time you will have and plan accordingly. If you have an extra activity or two plan and don't get to it, no worries! There's always tomorrow to use balloons in a fun way 😉
Oh, my #1 tip is to make sure you have plenty of balloons! Although these colorful objects are rather sturdy, they can get a hole or pop.
I buy our balloons in bulk. My boys and I like to have a wide variety of colors to use for our fun balloon activities.
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Active Play & Indoor Games for Fun with Balloons
Balloon Volleyball: All you need for this fun activity is balloons. Usually, this game is played with more than one person - like a group game. (Although my boys will play solo if desperate!)
Our version includes placing a line of painter's tape on the floor. This step is optional but helps deter arguments about if someone went out of bounds or over.
One team serves the ball and you hit the balloon back and forth. When the balloon hits the floor, play is over. If you're keeping score, the opposite team gets a point.
At times, we just try to keep the balloon in the air as long as possible without using a line.
Extra challenge: Use multiple balloons and try to keep them all in the air for as long as possible!
Balloon Tennis: For this fun game, all you need are balloons and fly swatter (or make your own "tennis" racquet out of paper plates and empty paper towel rolls).
The mode of play is similar to balloon volleyball. (Or make up your own rules!)
Bonus challenge: Add more than one balloon to make it exciting.
Hot Potato: Again, all you need is a balloon for this fun game.
Gather in a circle. Have one person be in charge of the music. Put on music and pass around a balloon. When the music stops, whoever had the balloon is out. Keep passing the balloon around until there's a winner.
Bonus challenge: Use more than one balloon!
Scavenger Hunt for Balloons: Such a fun balloon game!
Blow up several balloons. Hide them around a room or your home. Have your kids go on a hunt for the balloons.
You can have them return a balloon to the starting point whenever they find one to extend the length of the game.
Big Box o' Balloons: For this activity, you'll need -->
- a large box
- small to medium size balloons (if you have larger balloons, just blow up to fraction of the size)
- small objects to hide in the box among the balloons
When you have the activity ready to go, let your kids do a search for the objects. (You can make a list of the objects if it helps.)
Some fun objects include pompoms, mini-erasers, small toys, and cotton balls.
Balloon Races: You can play these games in a variety of ways.
- Each participant selects a balloon. Participants can hold balloon with hands, behind their back, on their head, under their shirt, etc. Get creative!
- Pick a finish line.
- Line up (you can use painter's tape to designate).
- A neutral party says go (or select one participant) and you're off to the balloon races.
- If playing indoors, you may want to specify type of movement. Instead of running, tip toe, baby step, hop on one leg, etc. Again, get creative 😉
Another fun way to enjoy this type of indoor game is to have a team balloon race (if you have enough participants). Each team lines up and has one balloon (or use multiple balloons for more of a challenge). Teammates pass the balloon(s) up and down the line a specific number of times.
Movements can range from passing from hand to hand, through the legs, over the head, behind the back, and mixing up these options.
Balloon Catch: You'll need construction paper, tape, and balloons for this fun activity.
Make a paper cone or funnel with the paper and tape. Here are 4 different ways to make a paper cone or funnel.
Each participant uses a paper cone or funnel to try to catch a balloon after tossing it in the air.
How many times can you catch the balloon? Who can do it the fastest?
Balloon Exercises: Each participant uses a balloon for stretches and movement activities. A few examples of commands include:
- Hold your balloon in both hands. Stretch it up, way over your head, and go on your tip toes. Slowly bend down and touch your balloon to the floor. Repeat five times.
- Now, stretch the balloon over to one side. And slowly stretch to the other side.
- Raise one leg and pass the balloon under your leg from one hand to the other. Switch legs.
- As you jog in place, move the balloon up and down from your belly to your forehead as you repeat the motion.
- Place your balloon on the floor. Gently place your forehead on the balloon and slowly spin in a circle. Switch direction and repeat.
Water Balloon Fun: Unless you don't mind a wet mess in your home, I suggest you move this balloon activity to your garage, sidewalk, driveway, or yard.
Fill balloons with water and tie. Gently place balloons in large bucket or cooler.
Then, use your balloons for an epic water balloon fight!
My boys and I like to place the container holding the water balloons in the center where we all have to run to fetch a balloon. Once we have a balloon, we have to dash back to where we started before throwing the balloon at someone or something.
Another super fun activity with water balloons is to use or make targets. Sometimes, my boys create special targets out of cardboard or scraps of wood. Other times, they just randomly pick targets in our yard.
Bonus idea: Add a hula hoop! Can you throw your water balloon through the hoop and then hit the target?
What are some other water balloon games that you can think of? Brainstorm with your kids for some awesome backyard fun!
Arts & Crafts for Fun Balloon Activities
Bazillion Faces: At least, that's what my boys and I call this activity.
Use a permanent marker (don't use washable-it will wipe off onto fingers and other surfaces!) and cover your work surface.
Pick a balloon and blow it up to appropriate size. Then, use your marker to draw faces with different emotions and expressions. You can name your balloon friend and even give it special accessories (like paper feet, ears, or noses).
So much fun - even for younger kids!
Painting Fun with Balloons: This art activity features balloons and paint. You'll also need paper and something to cover your work surface.
Learning4Kids shares some awesome ideas for using balloons to paint. My boys highly recommend this balloon painting activity!
Housing a Forest also has incredible ideas for creative ways to paint with balloons.
DIY Stress Balls: You'll need balloons, flour, and funnel. (A permanent marker to decorate your stress ball is optional.)
Natural Beach Living shows you how to make your own stress balls using balloons and flour. Such a cool activity and great way to reduce stress, even for young children!
Fun Balloon Animals & Figures: Really wow your kids by showing them how to make fun balloon animals and figures. (You'll need long, skinny balloons for this one 😉 )
The Spruce Crafts shares tips and tricks for making DIY balloon animals.
DIY Card featuring Balloons: Make a cute card for a friend or loved one. This activity is also a fun balloon party idea.
Glued to My Crafts shares this fabulous idea and instructions for making a Balloon Elephant Card.
Learn How to Draw a Dog Balloon Animal: Art Hub for Kids is our favorite spot to learn how to draw all sorts of fun stuff, like a balloon dog.
Learning Fun + Balloon Activities
Balloon Patterns: For this learning fun activity with balloons, you'll need a variety of colors. Or you can gently place stickers or use permanent markers on the balloons to differentiate them.
Invite your kids to arrange the balloons in a pattern according to different colors, sizes, shapes, or markers.
You can demonstrate the pattern first and then have them copy. Or let your kids get creative with making patterns.
Color Matching: This activity requires balloons and paper or objects that approximately match the balloon's color.
Place colored paper or object on the ground or table. Your child finds the matching balloon color.
You can make this activity more of a challenge by encouraging your child to think of different color description words (if necessary, get out that thesaurus!).
Reading Fun with Balloons: You'll need a permanent marker and balloons for this reading fun activity.
Write sight words (or any words that your child is learning-spelling, vocabulary, foreign language, etc.) on different balloons.
Mix up the balloons or scatter throughout the room. You can say the word and your child finds the correct balloon. Or have your child randomly select a balloon then read, spell, define, or translate.
Math Fun with Balloons: Again, you'll want a permanent marker and balloons for some math fun. You can customize these balloon activities for any age and level of math.
Use the marker to write down numbers for your toddler and preschooler to identify and practice counting.
Elementary learners can practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Middle school and older can work on math vocabulary, algebra, geometry, and more.
You can use the same ideas like above in Reading Fun.
Storytelling with Balloons: Confidence Meets Parenting has this awesome idea for simply using a balloon and permanent marker. We added using the words as conversation starters to her fun suggestions.
Static Electricity + Balloons: All you'll need for this balloon science fun is a balloon, empty can, and hair.
Science Bob gives you step-by-step instructions for enjoying this super science activity for kids. You'll also find out why this activity causes static electricity.
Balloon Rockets: The supplies that you'll need for this activity include balloon, straw, yarn or string, and tape.
Science Bob shares another fantastic experiment to demonstrate thrust by making your own balloon rocket. Plus, it's just a really cool activity!
Learn How a Balloon is Made:
Do you have more balloon activities and ideas that you enjoy with your kids at home?
Please share your ideas for kids of all ages in the comments area below 🙂
